DHS has paused new purchases of warehouses intended to hold immigrants as it reviews contracts signed during Kristi Noem’s tenure as Homeland Security Secretary, a senior DHS official said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The development arrives just days after Markwayne Mullin was sworn in to lead the department, which had been closely associated with President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
The official also said DHS is scrutinizing warehouse purchases that were already made, the official added. NBC News first reported the pause, according to the Associated Press account. When asked about the reports, DHS said in a statement that “as with any transition, we are reviewing agency policies and proposals.”
Mullin inherited a broader detention-expansion effort, the AP reported, that Noem had framed as a way to boost capacity to 92,000 beds. Under the plan, DHS would acquire eight large-scale detention centers capable of housing 7,000 to 10,000 detainees each, along with 16 smaller regional processing centers. The AP report also said many communities reacted only after DHS had bought or leased space for detainees, often learning of ICE’s plans after the fact.
According to the AP, the warehouse purchases already made cover at least 11 warehouses across states including Arizona, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas and Utah, with the federal government spending a combined $1.074 billion. The plan’s earlier components also encountered resistance from residents and communities that opposed large ICE facilities in their neighborhoods, including objections tied to morality as well as concerns about whether local infrastructure could absorb the impact, such as sewer and water systems.
The AP report said the detention-expansion effort also produced business and legal obstacles. It described how eight deals were scuttled in places including Kansas City, Missouri, when owners decided not to sell. It also said lawsuits are pending in three of the states, and that in at least one case the operating capacity of a warehouse has been scaled back.
One example highlighted by the AP involved a warehouse in the Phoenix suburb of Surprise, Arizona. The AP said the Surprise mayor, Kevin Sartor, stated during a news conference that plans initially called for a 1,500-bed processing site, but DHS now plans to cap occupied beds at 542. That shift illustrates how local scrutiny and negotiations have affected the scale of warehouse-based detention even as the department’s overall capacity targets were set earlier.
During his confirmation hearing earlier in March, Mullin acknowledged that there had been issues in the way the department planned projects and communicated with localities. The AP report quoted Mullin as saying, “We’ve got to protect the homeland and we’re going to do that,” adding that “obviously we want to work with community leaders.” The AP also reported Mullin said, “one thing I do know is construction,” and that many municipalities do not have the infrastructure capacity for waste and water.
Homeland Security’s statement responding to questions about the reported pause pointed to transition-time reviews rather than detailing whether contracts tied specifically to Noem-era decisions will be modified or canceled. Mullin’s confirmation remarks, meanwhile, emphasized working with communities, even as DHS continues its efforts to examine both new proposals and existing purchases tied to the detention-capacity expansion.